The invention relates generally to ultrasound imaging systems, and, more particularly, to a portable and configurable ultrasound imaging system.
Ultrasound imaging systems have been available for quite some time and are commonly used in nondestructive testing and medical applications. Medical ultrasound imaging allows the internal structure of the human body to be viewed non-invasively in real time. Preferably, the imaging system is portable, allowing the system to be used in applications requiring mobility, such as hospital emergency rooms, hospital rounds and private practice applications. Furthermore, the imaging system should be inexpensive to meet the budget constraints of the medical industry and should require minimal power to allow for battery operation necessary in some of the above applications.
In the past, ultrasonic imaging systems consisted of a large and bulky processing and display unit connected to an ultrasonic probe assembly using a cable. The probe assembly contained the ultrasonic transducers that are used to transmit interrogating pulses and receive reflected ultrasonic energy from the target. The processing and display unit contained all the processing systems and a display on which the image is presented to the user. Unfortunately, these processing and display systems were not easily adaptable to different end user needs. These prior systems typically required extensive re-engineering to accommodate different end user needs. The systems were designed using multiple printed circuit boards with complex interactions that necessitated significant re-engineering to address the varied market needs.
As ultrasonic imaging systems were developed further, electronic integration and miniaturization allowed the systems to become smaller in size. These smaller units may divide some of the processing functionality between the probe assembly and the main processing and display unit. Unfortunately, even these smaller systems remain difficult to adapt to different transducer arrays, processing techniques or software enhancements.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a portable ultrasonic imaging system that can be easily configured for a variety of transducer array types and processing techniques and that easily accommodates processor and software enhancements.
The invention provides a portable and configurable ultrasound imaging system that can be easily configured to support a variety of transducer arrays and processing techniques and that easily allows processor and software enhancements. The portable, configurable ultrasound system incorporates the use of various transducer arrays and beamforming circuitry to process received ultrasonic energy into a viewable image. The ultrasound system includes a portable, configurable processor that includes a modular processor and a modular memory element. The modularity of the system design both in software and hardware facilitates system upgrades and enhancements with minimal impact to other aspects of the system design. An example of the modularity is the use of a unified memory, thus allowing system software upgrades and enhancements with minimal impact to the balance of the system. The portable and configurable ultrasound imaging system allows alternative imaging applications and operating modes and includes modifiable processing algorithms and operating features, which provide the high degree of configurability to the portable and configurable ultrasound imaging system.